Conventionally, a device for manufacturing a disposable wearable article described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-38565 is, for example, known as a device for manufacturing an elastic laminate.
The manufacturing device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-38565 is provided with a pair of nip rolls configured to sandwich a pair of sheets with an elastic member interposed between the both sheets conveyed in longitudinal directions, a guide member provided upstream of the both nip rolls in the conveying directions of the both sheets and configured to guide the elastic member to between the both sheets while feeding the elastic member in a longitudinal direction thereof, and a drive mechanism configured to drive the guide member to change the position of the elastic member with respect to the both sheets.
The pair of nip rolls are so arranged that axes of both nip rolls are parallel.
The drive mechanism drives the guide member so that the guide member reciprocates along a travel path along the axial direction of the both nip rolls.
Specifically, the drive mechanism includes a belt having the guide member fixed thereto, a pair of pulleys configured such that the belt is provided thereon along an annular path including the travel path and a motor configured to drive the pulleys to be successively rotated in forward and reverse directions to reciprocate the guide member along the travel path.
The guide member is moved by this drive mechanism, whereby the elastic member can be sandwiched between the both sheets while changing the position of the elastic member along the axial direction of the both nip rolls.
Further, since the motor is provided to reciprocate the guide member by rotating and driving the pulleys successively in the forward and reverse directions, the configuration of the manufacturing device can be simplified as compared to the case of providing a mechanism (cam, etc.) for reciprocating the guide member.
However, since the guide member is fixed only to an intermediate part of the belt provided across the pair of pulleys in the drive mechanism described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-38565, the guide member may move in a direction orthogonal to the travel path when the belt moves.
If the guide member moves in the direction orthogonal to the travel path, the position of the guide member with respect to the both nip rolls changes, thereby causing a problem that the position of the elastic member between the both sheets becomes unstable.